Scientists honoured as Queen celebrates
20 June 2006
Four MRC scientists have received awards in the honours list for the Queen’s eightieth birthday. Professor Sally MacIntyre and Professor Nick Hastie, from Scotland, have been awarded CBEs. OBEs are being given to Dr Ann Prentice and Dr David Spiegelhalter from Cambridge.
Professor Nick Hastie, the director of the MRC Human Genetics Unit, said he was “over the moon” when he received the letter from the Prime Minister's Office telling him he had been awarded a CBE. “I am thrilled to see that scientists can be recognised in this way and would of course like to thank the enormous number of people who have worked with me over the years to make this possible.” The Human Genetics Unit examines the mechanisms underlying a range of human diseases and biological processes. Professor Hastie’s work has covered viral replication, the complexity of gene expression, genome organisation and protein evolution and human developmental genetics.
Professor Sally MacIntyre, the director of the MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, based at the University of Glasgow, is receiving a CBE. The Unit studies social and environmental influences on human health, and has a commitment to research which will help to provide better evidence on which to base public health policies. A sociologist by training, Professor MacIntyre’s research has been on socio-economic, gender and geographical inequalities in health and well-being. She has recently been studying how aspects of the neighbourhood social and physical environment might affect residents’ health.
Dr Ann Prentice was awarded an OBE. Dr Prentice was appointed Director of the MRC’s Human Nutrition Research in 1998. She has been instrumental in addressing the nutrient requirements for bone health, encompassing the nutritional issues in both affluent and developing societies.
Commenting on the honour, Dr Prentice said “I am delighted to receive this OBE. It is a wonderful honour and a great privilege. This honour is also a great acknowledgement of the importance of nutrition science in improving the health of the population.”
An OBE was also awarded to Dr David Spiegelhalter of the MRC’s Biostatistics Unit in Cambridge. Dr Spiegelhalter is best known for his ground-breaking work on statistical methods of analysing and interpreting data, known as Bayesian analysis.
His scientific research has led to many benefits, including enabling different sources of evidence to be combined in an accurate way, providing a sound statistical basis for evidence-based medicine, analysing and interpreting data from clinical trials, and comparing hospitals’ performance.
Dr Spiegelhalter has also made major contributions to medical research policy in the UK. He headed the statistical team for the Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry, provided expert evidence to the Harold Shipman Inquiry, and is currently an expert advisor to the Healthcare Commission.
